The Minds Behind Adventure Games

Featuring interviews with the creators of 31 popular video games--including Grand Theft Auto, Strider, Maximum Carnage and Pitfall--this book gives a behind-the-scenes look at the origins of some of the most enjoyable and iconic adventure games of all time. Interviewees recount the endless hours of painstaking development, the challenges of working with mega-publishers, the growth of the adventure genre, and reveal the creative processes that produced some of the industry's biggest hits, cult classics and indie successes.

Featuring interviews with the creators of 35 popular video games--including John Madden Football, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3, WCW/nWo Revenge, and RBI Baseball--this book gives a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of some of the most influential and iconic (and sometimes forgotten) sports video games of all time. Recounting endless hours of painstaking development, the challenges of working with mega-publishers and the uncertainties of public reception, the interviewees reveal the creative processes that produced some of gaming's classic titles.

Featuring interviews with the creators of 36 popular video games--including Deus Ex, Night Trap, Mortal Kombat, Wasteland and NBA Jam--this book gives a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of some of the most influential and iconic (and sometimes forgotten) games of all time. Recounting endless hours of painstaking development, the challenges of working with mega publishers and the uncertainties of public reception, the interviewees reveal the creative processes that produced some of gaming's classic titles.

Prior to the arrival of the Sega Genesis, video games were still largely considered "kid stuff," but with a far more mature and eclectic range of titles, and an understanding of what gamers wanted, Sega and its Genesis/Mega Drive console began to shift the expectations for what gaming could be. Never scared to innovate, Sega's impact on the industry continues to this day through the games they originally developed and the technology their consoles pushed into the mainstream. Featuring interviews with the creators of over 40 games on the Sega Genesis console including Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Altered Beast, Aladdin, Earthworm Jim and NHL 95, this book gives a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of some of the influential, iconic, and sometimes forgotten games on Sega's most important contribution to the game industry. The interviewees reveal the challenges of working with mega publishers, the uncertainties of public reception, and the creative processes that produced some of the 16-bit era's classic titles.

Featuring interviews with the creators of 43 popular video games--including Spyro the Dragon, Syphon Filter, NFL GameDay 98 and Final Fantasy VII--this book gives a behind-the-scenes look at some of the most influential (and sometimes forgotten) titles of the original PlayStation era. Interviewees recall the painstaking development, challenges of working with mega publishers and uncertainties of public reception, and discuss the creative processes that produced some of gaming's all-time classics.

Attractively illustrated with over a hundred halftones and drawings, this volume presents a series of vibrant profiles that trace the evolution of our knowledge about the brain. Beginning almost 5000 years ago, with the ancient Egyptian study of "the marrow of the skull," Stanley Finger takes us on a fascinating journey from the classical world of Hippocrates, to the time of Descartes and the era of Broca and Ramon y Cajal, to modern researchers such as Sperry. Here is a truly remarkable cast of characters. We meet Galen, a man of titanic ego and abrasive disposition, whose teachings dominated medicine for a thousand years; Vesalius, a contemporary of Copernicus, who pushed our understanding of human anatomy to new heights; Otto Loewi, pioneer in neurotransmitters, who gave the Nazis his Nobel prize money and fled Austria for England; and Rita Levi-Montalcini, discoverer of nerve growth factor, who in war-torn Italy was forced to do her research in her bedroom. For each individual, Finger examines the philosophy, the tools, the books, and the ideas that brought new insights. Finger also looks at broader topics--how dependent are researchers on the work of others? What makes the time ripe for discovery? And what role does chance or serendipity play? And he includes many fascinating background figures as well, from Leonardo da Vinci and Emanuel Swedenborg to Karl August Weinhold--who claimed to have reanimated a dead cat by filling its skull with silver and zinc--and Mary Shelley, whose Frankenstein was inspired by such experiments. Wide ranging in scope, imbued with an infectious spirit of adventure, here are vivid portraits of giants in the field of neuroscience--remarkable individuals who found new ways to think about the machinery of the mind.

Featuring interviews with the creators of 43 popular video games--including Spyro the Dragon, Syphon Filter, NFL GameDay 98 and Final Fantasy VII--this book gives a behind-the-scenes look at some of the most influential (and sometimes forgotten) titles of the original PlayStation era. Interviewees recall the painstaking development, challenges of working with mega publishers and uncertainties of public reception, and discuss the creative processes that produced some of gaming's all-time classics.

Featuring interviews with the creators of 39 popular video games--including Halo 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Medal of Honor and Metroid Prime--this book gives a behind-the-scenes look at the origins of some of the most iconic shooter games. Interviewees recount endless hours of painstaking development, the challenges of working with mega-publishers, the growth of the genre and the creative processes that produced some of the industry's biggest hits, cult classics and indie successes.

This book is a guide to ZX Spectrum adventure games released between 1982 to 1985. It includes all of the hit games, plus many that you've probably never even heard of (188 games in total), complete with screenshots, covers and some adverts from the era... Plus oodles of new artwork from Robin Grenville-Evans. This thick tome (over 575 pages) has an introduction from Mike Gerrard (Your Sinclair adventure game columist), plus interviews with developers Don Woods (Colossal Caves), Mel Croucher (Automata), Charles Cecil (Artic Computing), Scott Adams (Adventure International), Tim Gilberts (Gilsoft), Trevor Hall (Mikro Gen), Terry Greer (Interceptor Micros), Tony Barber (Phipps Associates, RamJam Corporation), Pete Austin (Level 9 Computing) and Roy Carnell (Carnell Software). You can download free maps from www.retro-spective-books.co.uk